Oral Presentation Skills

Oral Presentation Skills

Preparing an Effective Oral Presentation

 Determine the purpose of your presentation & identify your own objectives.

 Know your audience and what it knows.

 Define your topic.

 Arrange your material in a way that makes sense for your objectives.

 Compose your presentation with your objectives in mind.

 Create visual aids, particularly if they will help you to be more persuasive, informative, or convincing.

 Practice your presentation with your visual aids and make

necessary adjustments if your practice run exceeds the time limit for your talk.

 Make necessary adjustments.

 Practice again.

 Check out in advance the room where you’ll be giving your

presentation (set-up, sight lines, equipment, ethernet connection, etc.).

Organizing Your Presentation

 Outline 3-5 main points that will help you meet your objectives in giving the presentation. You can write an outline in words and phrases or in complete sentences, but it’s best to use as few complete sentences as possible.

Outlining your points will:

•help you to see key words easier;

•let you add to your notes at the last minute without crowding;

•allow your speech to flow more naturally.

Don’t forget to frame your

presentation with a discernible

introduction and conclusion.

• The introduction should

a. get the audience's attention;

b. present your topic in a clear and compelling fashion;

c. show the topic's importance, relevance, or interest;

d. forecast the main points or major ideas of your presentation.

• The conclusion should

a. inform the audience that you are about to close;

b. summarize the main points of your presentation;

c. leave the audience with an idea or concept to remember or ponder.

Prepare the structure of the talk carefully and logically, just as you would for a written report.

What are:

 the objectives of the talk?

 the main points you want to make?

Rehearse your presentation - to yourself at first and then in front of some colleagues.

Delivering Your Presentation

Greet the audience (for example, 'Good morning, ladies and gentlemen'), and tell

them who you are. Good presentations then follow this formula:

 tell the audience what you are going to tell them,

 then tell them,

 at the end tell them what you have told them.

Keep to the time allowed.

 Dress comfortably, but appropriately.

 Be yourself.

 Be conscious of your posture, your voice, your gestures, and your “body languag

e.”

 Pause or take a drink of water if you need to compose yourself.

 Invite questions at the end, giving

audience members sufficient time to formulate them.

Performance

Your voice

 How you say it is as important as what you say

 Speak clearly. Don't shout or whisper - judge the acoustics of the room.

 Don't rush, or talk deliberately slowly. Be natural - although not conversational.

 Deliberately pause at key points - this has the effect of emphasising the importance of a particular point you are making.

 Avoid jokes - always disastrous unless you are a natural expert.  

 To make the presentation interesting, change your delivery, but not too obviously (eg: speed, pitch of voice).

Body language

 Face your audience and make eye contact with everyone (if it’s a small group) but don't fix on an individual - it can be intimidating.

 Pitch your presentation towards the back of the audience, especially in larger rooms.

 Use your hands to emphasise points but don't indulge in to much hand waving.

 Move around some, but not too much. Pacing up and down can unnerve the audience. Also avoid swaying from side to side or rocking back and forth.

Stick to the plan for the presentation.

Don't be tempted to digress.

At the end of your presentation ask if there are any questions.

Never read from a script.

You should know most of what you want to say.

If you don't then you should not be giving the talk!

Using Visual Aids

 Computer projection

 Video & film

 Real objects

 White Board

 Use visual aids to clarify your presentation, not as a basis for it. They must be relevant to what you want to say.

 Use titles on each visual aid to guide the audience.

 Make sure that the font size of your slides is legible from all seats.

 Keep it simple though.

 Make sure you know in advance how to operate the equipment.

 Don't face the display screen behind you and talk to it.

 Don’t stand in a position where you obscure the screen. In fact,

positively check for anyone in the audience who may be

disadvantaged and try to accommodate them.

Practice is essential, both to

improve your skills generally and also to make the best of each individual

presentation you make.

Finally,

Enjoy yourself. The audience will be on your side and want to hear what you have to say!